Author: Kristen Kitchens

Michael Clark, who was facing a life sentence on aggravated assault charges if convicted in a jury trial, entered a guilty plea in the Superior Court of Coffee County on one of three felony charges in his case. Clark was also sentenced and will now serve 12 months (with credit for time served) in confinement as a result of his plea. Clark has been in the Coffee County Jail since his April arrest, which stemmed from an altercation that occurred at his ex-wife’s home in Douglas. Clark was accused of entering the home without permission, walking into a…

James Gregory Burch is now facing prison time after a Coffee County jury found him guilty of an aggravated assault for pointing a gun at a local police officer’s family. Burch originally denied ever seeing or pointing a firearm, but as he was being transported to the Coffee County Jail, he claimed the officer “knew the gun was fake.” According to testimony given at the trial, on April 8, 2020, local police officer Mason Cater and his family, a then 22-year-old woman and an 11-year-old child, were biking down Bryan Street when they heard a man shouting and cursing…

Only one case out of the fourteen ready for trial will be heard by a Coffee County jury this week, with the other defendants either pleading guilty or having their cases continued to the next calendar. The state’s case against James Gregory Burch on two counts of aggravated assault will be heard Tuesday in Superior Court of Coffee County. Burch was arrested in 2020 after officers with the Douglas Police Department were dispatched to a residence on West Bryan Street about a possible assault. According to a copy of Burch’s arrest warrant, he is accused of pointing a firearm at…

The current path of Hurricane Ian, which strengthened into a hurricane on Monday afternoon, is set to move through parts of Georgia on Thursday, with Coffee County possibly being impacted by high-speed winds and several inches of rain. Forecasters are expecting Ian to develop into a Category 4 hurricane by the time it reaches the Florida coast, with winds potentially reaching 160 mph. At around 5:00 p.m., meteorologists with the National Hurricane Center reported Ian to be moving north-northwest at around 155 miles southeast of Cuba with winds up to 100 mph. A life-threatening storm surge of up…

A Citizens Christian Academy (CCA) senior, Kalli Douglas, made the cover of Bold & Beautiful Magazine’s September senior issue, with the photographer, Coffee County native Rachel Bender, featured as the edition’s front cover artist. The edition features senior pictures of 12th grade students from across the nation, with Bender’s image of Kalli the cover page. Four other local seniors Bender photographed were also featured in the special, including Evan Coffee, Ada Wooten, Madeline Morris and Gracelyn Day. Bold & Beautiful, according to its website, was created by a photographer to help other inspiring photographers. The creator said the magazine can be used…

Marc Wilson, who was recently convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the 2020 fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Haley Hutcheson in Statesboro, was sentenced to ten years in prison this week. Under Georgia law, ten years is the maximum time an individual can receive after being found guilty of the crime. Since the shooting occurred, Wilson, who has a connection to Douglas, has remained adamant that he fired the gun in self-defense against a racist attack from the boys who were inside the vehicle with Hutcheson. He told investigators that he and his girlfriend were driving down the highway when…

47-year-old Michael McKinnon, 47-year-old Luke McRae III, and 36-year-old Kimberly Thomas were all recently arrested for allegedly trying to break into McKinnon’s grandmother’s home after she denied giving him a key to the residence. While the suspects were being questioned, law enforcement reportedly discovered a glass pipe and suspected methamphetamine on McRae. According to a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office report, on September 19, around 10:44 a.m., a deputy responded to a residence on Daisy Avenue, listed as the home of an 85-year-old woman. When the deputy pulled up, he allegedly witnessed a man attempting to pry open a…

Shareka Denson of Jacksonville, Florida, was recently arrested for allegedly attempting to steal a cargo trailer from a business in Douglas. According to an incident report, Denson is also suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run incident in August, which occurred on the same night she was pulled over for pulling a cargo trailer with no tag. The report states that on September 13, an officer was dispatched to a business on Johnson Street in Douglas in reference to a theft. When the officer arrived, she spoke to the complainant, who said a black SUV was parked in…

Last week, the Waycross Police Department SWAT team assisted the Pearson Police Department in a standoff with a man who barricaded himself inside a home “with several firearms” for close to seven hours. Officials with the agency reported that the suspect, 39-year-old Mauricio Moreno, allegedly fired multiple rounds from an AR-15 style rifle before locking himself inside the residence. According to a Pearson Police Department incident report, on September 14, officers were dispatched to a residence on Austin Avenue Extension just before 12:30 a.m. The reporting officer stated that he and another deputy walked into the yard of…

The family of Fairuza Hagains, 17, are continuing to seek answers in her disappearance that occurred almost two weeks ago. As of Monday afternoon, Fairuza’s family “had very few clues” about her whereabouts, but fear she may have been picked up by someone she met online. According to a release by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Fairuza, who also goes by the names Marcy and Jules, was last seen on September 6, 2022, in West Green. A family member also said she is suspected to have possibly been picked up by someone around 6:00 a.m. on September…